Glossary / Markets & bet types / Point spread
A ParlayAPI glossary entry

Point spread

A point spread is a handicap the favored team must overcome for a bet on it to win. At -3.5 the favorite must win by 4 or more; the underdog at +3.5 covers by winning outright or losing by 3 or fewer. Spreads exist to make both sides of a mismatched game roughly 50/50 propositions.

In practice

Whole-number spreads can push (a -3 favorite winning by exactly 3 refunds both sides); half-point lines cannot. In the NFL the distribution of final margins clusters on 3 and 7, so half-points around those “key numbers” carry real value - the entire logic of teasers and spread middles lives there.

Where it shows up in ParlayAPI

Spreads are market key spreads, with each outcome carrying its point value alongside the price. Alternate numbers are exposed as alt-line markets in the catalog at /v1/meta/markets. Cross-book spread comparison - both the number and the price on it - is the core of best-line shopping.

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